Method and apparatus for cutting bias strips



juiy s, 1924.

A. MARQUETTE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CUTTING BIAS STRIPE Filed Aug.1920 2 Shams-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Melvon F\.Mar

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S O VY 2 ill W ATTO Patented Jul 8. 1924.

UNITED STATES. P TENT. ()FFICE.

xnnvon a. MARQUETTE, or enrcornn FALLS, massaormsn'r'rs, ASSIGNOR To runmsx RUBBER COMPANY, or CHICOPEE FALLS, massacnuss'r'rs, A conrona'rronQ1 MASSACHUSETTS.

'mn'rnop AND nrraaa'rus FOR cu'r'rmoi BIAS s'rzarrs.

Application filed August 4, 1820. Serial No. 401,277.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MnLvoN A. MAR- QUETTE, a citizen of the UnitedStates of America, residing at Chicopee Falls, in the a county ofHampden and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in a Method and Apparatus for Cutting Bias Strips, of whichthe following is a specification.

My present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for cuttingfabric on the .bias, and particularly to the cutting of a succession ofbias strips from a relatively long sheet of fabric.

a It has for its object the cutting of fabric on the bias while thefabric is moving, thereby greatl increasin the output. It has for a furter object t e substantial elimination of moving, and especiallyreciprocating,

parts. It has for a further object the provision of means whereb. thecutting means can be renewed or rep acedwithout stop- .ping the machine.It has various other obects relating to improvements in'the method 2 andtoconstructional and operating advantages whi-h will appear from theensuing description and the appended claims.

M invention will now be described with particular reference to theaccompanying drawings some of which are diagrammatic in their nature,and in which- Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation of a viceembodying my invention;

Fi 2 is an enlarged detail showing the coaction of the cutting memberswith the cutting roll;

Fig. 3 is a detail showing the construction of the cutter tracks at thecurves;

Fig. 4 is a plan view corresponding to 4.0 Fig. 2;

11, under a guide roll 12, and over abutting.

cylinder 13. The fabric may be held. in contact with this cylinder byrollers 14 and 15. In passing over the cutting cylinder the fabric issevered into bias strips. These strips are cut by the mechanism whichwill gages fingers 33 now be described. Arranged adjacent cylinde r 13are tracks 16 and 17, upon which run carriers 18 which engage the tracksby bearings 19 and 20. The tracks may be supported from any suitableframe by posts 21. On the curved portionv of the tracks they arepreferably cut away as at 22 (Fig. 3), to prevent binding of. thecarriers. Each carrier has a bracket 23 which carries a cut ter 24. Thiscutter is preferably a thin blade having cutting edges at 25 and 26, sothat by reversin the blade a new cutting edge is resente to the work.The blade may be astened to the bracket by dowels 27 and a thumb screw28, Bracket 23 also carries a guide finger-29, adapted to run in one ofa series of spiral grooves 30 in the surface of cylinder 13 andpreferably bulged near the top'to assure a good bearing surface in thegroove while the portion of the flange. adjacent to' the fabric is asthin as the stresses allow in order. to present minimum interferencewith the edges of cut fabric. As will be apparent from Fig. 4, the

rotation of cylinder 13 will cause carriers 18, due to their engagementwith grooves30, to progress across the roll, their motion-belel with theaxis of the roll. In order that the blades will lie in the groovesduring the ly appears from the drawings. In order to return the carriersto the initial side of the cylinder a belt or cord 31 is disposed aboutulleys 32. This belt enfi'ictionally ressing against the belt, andserving to hol the carriers to the belt for motion therewith when theyare not restrained by the grooves 30; The pulleys are driven, as bygearing34: connected to the cutting cylinder, at such a speed that thecarriers will travel along the return path at a higher speed than therate at which they are fed by the grooves. This results in a piling up,of the carriers at the entrance side of the cylinder; so that one isalways ready to pass into a groove when the leading end thereof is inposition. It will be noticed, also, that the feed of the carriers durmgthe cutting is controlled positively by i the grooves in the cylinder,the belt slipping through the friction clips during this operaingrestricted by the guides to a line paralsurfaces coining in contact.

the belt and clips.

The sheet thus cut into bias bands is led by a guide 36 and a' roll 5%which directs it to the delivery device, which maybe of any desiredtype. If the fabric has been coated with rubber before being cut,however, it is necessary to provide a liner, so-called, of uncoatedfabric to prevent adjacent rubber In the drawings this liner isindicated at 37 and passes over guide-rolls 38 and 39, when it againmeets the rubberized fabric, now out into bias strips, and serves as asupport therefor. A gravity tension roll 5?) serves to keep the linertaut. The liner and bias cut strips are conveniently wound on a roll or'spool 40- whichmay be rotated by a belt 41 mounte on pulleys 42 drivenby any suitable mechanism. i

It is desirable to provide means for allowing the carriers to be removedfrom the track, and carriers having sharpened blades substituted,without stopping the machine. For this purpose switches are preferablyprovided, as will now be described. In Fig. 5 theseswitches are shown inposition to remove carriers from the track. The removing switch consistsof a double track 43 correspondin at 44 and pre erably having aremovable stop td- Tracksl6 and 17 have pivoted sections'46 which arepushed out of line b the movement of the switch in position. l hepivoted sections 46 may conveniently be constructed as shown in Fig. 7,being pivoted-at 4.7 to the main track and having a-suitable leaf spring4:81 serving to hol the=pivotedsection in alignment with the lmain'ttacljrwhenlhe switch is-nofl'being operated. The end of the pivotedsection is preferabl shaped as at 49 to permit it to seat firm y inalignment with the main track. The-- switch for inserting" carriers withsharpened blades may be constructed with a-fixedftrackbO, and a pivotedsection 51, of the main track, which may be constructed as described forsection 16.

The construction above described lends itself readily toadjnsting thewidth of the biasstrips to any one of a predetermined number of widths.This maybe done by providing the cylinder 13 with extra grooves 52,those not in use being closed as by plates 4 53 to prevent entrance of'carriers. [fit is not desired to have this, adjustable feature thecarriers may be controlled by a positively, driven chain. e

l'claim:v v 1. Themethod of cutting bias strips from relatively"longsheet of fabric, consisting .in supporting.t-he-falu-Ic.(m a movingsurface, making repeated bias cuts from edge to edge offthe fabric bypassing a cutting to tracks 16 and 17, pivoted member across the-movingsurface at right angles removing from the surface the bias strips th'usout.

to its direction of movement, and.-

2. T1e method of cutting bias strips from a re/ia ively long sheet offabric consisting in moving the sheet continuously in the direction ofitsolength, andmoving a succes-. sion of cutting members across thestrip in a path substantially normal to the direc- 7 5 tion of movementof the sheet. 7 3. The-method of cutting bias stripsfrom a relativelylon sheet of fabric consisting in moving the sheet in the direction ofits length, and moving a succession of' cutting '80 members across thestrip at such an angle that the resultant of the motions of the stripsired angularity in the bias strip.

andcutting members will produce the del 4. The method of cutting arelatively long 8 web of fabric on the bias consisting in moving saidweb in contact with the surface of a rotating cylinder, andpassing acut; ting member axially of the cylinder and in contact with the web tosever the latter on the bias from edge to edgwhile the cylinder and web,are moving.

of the fabric to the other, andmeans for rotating the cylinder andreciprocating the m carrier in synchronism.

6. An apparatus for cutting fabric on the bias comprising a rotatable.cylinder, means for guid ng a sheet of fabricover the cylinder, aseries of carriers fitted with cutting blades movable axially of-thecylinder, an means for moving saidicarriers successively and insynchronism with the cylinder.

7. An apparatus for cuttin fabric on the bias comprising a cylinderhaving helical grooves therein, means for guiding a sheet of fabric overthe cylinder, a series of carriers having cutting blades, and havingmeans for engagement with said grooves,

guides for directing said carriers ad acent the cylinder and parallelwith the axis there-1 of and for returning the carriers to the initial'end of the cylinder, and meansfor moving the carriers back to theinitial end of the cylinder after they leave said grooves. 8. Anapparatus [or cut-tin fabric on the bias comprising a cylinder avinghelical grooves therein. means for guiding a sheet of fabric over thecylinder, a'series of car riers having cutting blades, and having meansfor engagement with said grooves, guides for directing said carriersadjacent the cylinder and parallel with the axis thereof and forreturning thel carriers to the initial end ref the cylinder, and meansmemes for moving the carriers back an the initi-Lil end of the cylinderafter they leave said grooves and switches in said guides Where bycertain of said carriers may be inserted or removed Without stopping theoperation of the machine.

9. An apparatus for cutting" fabric o'n'the bias comprising a cylinderhaying helical grooves therein, (means for guiding a sheet of fabricover the cylinder, a series of carriers having cutiing blades, andhaving means for engagement with said grooves, guides for directing saidcarriers adjacent with the axis -the11eof end for returning the carriersto the iniw-j tie end of the cylinder, and means for moving the carriersback to the initial end of he cylinder after they leave said grooves,said lest-named means being constructed and arranged to move at a higherspeed than the feed of said grooves, and to have slipping engagementwith said carriers wheie by said carriers are pressed against the initial end of the cylinder and held in readiness to be received by therooves.

MELVON A. RQUETTE.

